Creighton Post Game thread (merged thread)

[Boreifs]

Our senior guard play has to get better. If that improves, with CD rising, Fudd Nika and Paige getting healthy, and our posts playing pretty well as a collective, we will be just fine and a Final Four and NC contender.

Have you ever seen seniors dramatically improve during the season? Doesn’t often happen.

 

[Vowelguy]

I’m not concerned about Nikas fouls — would rather have someone aggressive. Plus I’m sure she was amped up to play.

And part of the problem with lotsa fouls is they put you on the bench — but that was gonna happen anyway since she could only play 15 minutes.

 

[ABCDFE]

A win is a win, and especially what they've gone through the last 3 weeks, I'm happy for the team and Geno and staff. Creighton is a solid team and I thought we played a great game until the last several minutes where we seemed to slow the game down to our detriment and try to run offense (execution was bad). I think going forward, Geno needs to tell the team to continue playing the way they did for the first 3 1/2 quarters, because this team's lack of proficient and trustworthy guard play is going to cost us.

I am also now firmly in the camp that we need to also acknowledge that this team is not going to be led by the seniors. The seniors will play very important roles, but the team will be led by our freshman and sophomores.

I thought everyone played pretty well. I think Liv could've played better, but will give her a pass. Evina is playing really poorly the last few games. She is hesitant and a turnover machine. I am actually surprised by this, because she is one of my favorite players on the team, but she is hurting the team big time right now. I'm hoping she will snap out of it.

Looking forward to getting Azzi back in a couple of weeks or so. We desperately need another good shooter out there with CD. You can see teams sagging and leaving many of our players with daylight to shoot knowing that we currently do not have the the players to consistently hit the outside shot. Azzi will open up so much for other guards and post players, can't wait to see Geno let her and CD play freely without worrying about being benched.

 

[Kaizen]

And they are a senior and a graduate student

Dorka is OK today although not as good as Caroline .

 

[Boreifs]

CD continues to impress! If Paige comes back, our backcourt changes 180-degrees, w/Paige controlling the ball movement and CD a scoring option on the wing. CW & EW could go back to their shooting-guard roles that they are more accustomed to. As Geno said, we essentially dont have a good guard play right now, and it shows.

So when she comes back, who does she replace in the starting lineup? Conundrum time

 

[BRS24]

I’m not concerned about Nikas fouls — would rather have someone aggressive. Plus I’m sure she was amped up to play.

And part of the problem with lotsa fouls is they put you on the bench — but that was gonna happen anyway since she could only play 15 minutes.

Per Geno:

 

[topogigio]

Having a tough time getting used to this "new normal" UConn Women's Basketball. I don't care how long of a layoff, Covid, short bench, no Paige, no Azzi, ad nauseum. The players on the court were top rated players coming out of high school, some are now seniors, having played for 4 seasons. They are playing against competition not nearly as talented. They should look and play better than they are!

 

[Boreifs]

Ducharme is just a joy to watch. Her one-on-one defense isn’t great, but her team defense really is.

Glad to see Edwards getting her groove back.

I too loved Nika barreling through that screen. It might have been a dumb play, but it showed she still has that fire and she’s not giving in because she’s just back from an injury.

I hopeon Evina is able to get it together with Nika taking some of the PG responsibilities.

All her blocks came on one and one defense.

 

[Rb335]

Starting guards:
9 turnovers
3 assists
And there the problem lies.

Last year, we were bombarded with content about how aggressive and passionate the freshman class was. Last season, I kept feeling like we were one season away, as we were so young, but somehow got to the Final Four.

This year has obviously not gone according to plan, with transfers, injuries, and covid complications. But what I've noticed is that once again, our younger players are the ones playing with the most passion and energy.

Once again, I feel like we are one year away. A lineup next year with PB, , CD, AE, and DJ will be very solid. 4 players who can shoot from the perimeter, height, passing, scorers from all positions. And you'll have two intriguing new freshman to add to that mix.

It almost feels like we have the potential to experience addition by subtraction next year. This senior class is just missing the it factor. I've enjoyed watching them, and they've certainly contributed to their fair share of uconn wins. But I fear they just aren't the right pieces.

The guard play you mention above was an issue today, but it's been happening all year. It was just masked by the early season brilliance of PB. The season shooting efficiency for both EW and CW is also subpar this year. And although she played fine today, the fact that ONO isn't more of a presence against such a small opponent is just a microcosm of the issue that presents itself against quality bigs.

We have to go with the players we currently have available, and I hope this senior class can find the sense of urgency to accomplish their goals. But for now, I will continue to focus on what the younger players are doing, and daydream about what they will accomplish when they get a bit more experienced.

 

[Boreifs]

Dorka is OK today although not as good as Caroline .

Dorka is not a guard; I was referring to Evina

 

[jdote33]

Initial Thoughts:

CD surprisingly has been the best player on the team since the Paige injury. When you think about facing SC or other top teams later this season, it's exciting to know we have her in the lineup. Her blocks are great. I love how stoic she is too. She doesn't get too high or too low. And I didn't love the sneaky good talk though I get it. But what I really like about her is she'll put up 13 shots relatively within the flow of the offense.

Dorka, was amazing in the first quarter and really the first half. She had a bunch of nice passes throughout the game as well. When she airballs shots in the post, I scratch my head. I'm not sure if it's a balance or strength issue, but those are the plays that if she could get a handle on, would make her like the best big on the team.

AE was super aggressive and played great. I feel like she's played fine since the Georgia Tech game, but this game she played a lot of minutes and had a lot of opportunities. If she could get her fouling and travels under control, she could probably be the best big on the team.

CW was fine. She hit two big threes and had a couple of nice back door cuts. I think the expectations are pretty high for her, but 5/11 is really not that bad. She also hasn't had that many opportunities in transition this season. Overall, the pace of the game, and the turnovers led to less opportunities for her, so in a half court game to shoot 50% from three, I think she was fine.

Nika was Nika. She was surely missed. At this point I just smile every time she fouls. I'm not sure if there is a box score that includes it but her plus minus must've been great in this game. I just felt like when she was on the floor she made good things happen. She also pushes the ball which is great for early post up opportunities, and open threes. She also looked pretty quick throughout the game, which was cool to see. Hopefully her foot issues are behind her.

ONO- I thought she played well in the second half. I think that's the gift and the curse of having 3 very capable bigs. It was like each of them had their strong moments throughout the game, and each also had their struggle. But the rotation of minutes between them I thought was pretty good in this game.

EW- This was not her best game. She just seems a bit out of rthyme offensively, and does not really know where her shots are going to come from. To shoot 1 shot in 30 plus minutes, and to have 6 turnovers is not great.

Overall, in the middle of the first quarter I thought they were playing the best we've seen offensively in awhile. But after scoring 21 in the first, they scored only 42 in the next 3 quarters.

 

[cohenzone]

So much pressure on Westbrook. Out of position, bad knees, she is holding tge fort as best she can. Seems afraid to make mistakes which doesn’t work well for athletes. But someone said we will lose a bunch of games. A few maybe. But not too many. Since GTech they adjusted pretty well and then had COVID interrupt the progress. I think they will get better.

 

[Boreifs]

If you didn't see the stats, and think about who was involved in plays, were the topic of the announcers and stepped up, it felt like 2 groups:

CD, DJ, NM, AE: Brought energy and aggressiveness. Looked like they couldn't wait to play

CW, EW, ONO (Seniors): Low energy, not involved much. Felt more like role players than leaders.

I really think it will be interesting to see the minutes distribution once Azzi and Paige return. I think we will see the seniors minutes drop as we get to March.

Agreed, but I’m not holding my breath.

 

[Rb335]

And nearly zero leadership. They look clueless sometimes. Almost all are very indecisive with the ball. It’s amazing what 1 player was able to bring out of them.

Season Average With Paige vs Without for our starting 5 (just scoring)

CW- 15.0 - 11.7
EW- 9.5 - 9.0
ONO - 8.3 - 8.5
DJ - 3.0 - 10.8
CD - 3.6 - 14.3

Interesting to see DJ and CD be the two to step up. Granted they are getting a lot more minutes. But our 3 returning seniors have struggled to increase production offensively.

 

[dtbtbtb]

Few thoughts:
a. Can someone find Evina's confidence and give it back to her? it seems she is way overthinking every move/shot and that impact she defense where she was not good as well.
b. Caroline is a player! and one of the only ones on this team that can create their own shot because she's got the handles, variety of shots, basketball iq, and body control and all of that on somewhat slow feet which shows that you don't need to be a top athlete to get your shots.
c. it's the end of a game and UConn is down 1, who gets the ball? I'll go with Caroline!
d. DJ had such a good first half. What happened to her in the 2nd half?
e. UConn is lucky that Nika could play in this game. Just imagine if E was the PG the 40 min. today...

 

[eebmg]

Geno Presser

 

[Littlemin]

Per Geno:

Big Muhl fan but Auriemma is right on. She needs to temper her emotion with some smarts; she gives this group something they sorely lack but you can’t provide it from the bench.
And frankly, showing the refs up on every call is just dumb.

 

[LETTERL]

Did Geno actually use the term "sucked" at the halftime interview?

 

[HuskyNan]

Did Geno actually use the term "sucked" at the halftime interview?

Yes he did. He used a worse word to describe the coaching in the presser

 

[CTBballfan243]

Having a tough time getting used to this "new normal" UConn Women's Basketball. I don't care how long of a layoff, Covid, short bench, no Paige, no Azzi, ad nauseum. The players on the court were top rated players coming out of high school, some are now seniors, having played for 4 seasons. They are playing against competition not nearly as talented. They should look and play better than they are!

Again, high school ratings are worthless. They are a sham.

 

[HuskyNan]

Again, high school ratings are worthless. They are a sham.

Not so much a scam but more an indication of what kind of player they are in high school. We see it in all sports - great players at one level move up and become average at the next. So being the best kid out of high school doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the best kid in college

 

[cohenzone]

Have you ever seen seniors dramatically improve during the season? Doesn’t often happen.

Like it or not, there is nobody on our team, almost any team, who can do what Paige does. Her absence, and to a degree, Muhl‘s, puts the other guards in less than their best situation. Clearly the most pressure is on Westbrook and she just isn’t a ball distributor. It affects Christyn too. I didn’t see her as quite so bad as some. I get that we think a hs POY is expected to take over sometimes, but she isn’t a dud. On top of it all, I thought we played pretty well against LVille and then COVID screwed up our progress I reserve judgement for a few more games until they get the chance to practice regularly. I’d guess DePaul is the biggest league opponent to threaten us. Paige coming back and Azzi being able to contribute are major wild cards later on.

 

[Heytherego]

Wow Caroline! This time with Paige being out is really doing her good. Every time we see her I feel like she’s getting better and better. I really like her play. If you watch her on offense she never stops moving and then on defense her hands are always active. She missed a shot or two she could have made, but overall no complains. She doesn’t really seem to turn the ball and is overall a really high IQ player.

If she continues this play and the senior guards continue their lackluster play, if Paige does come back, I can’t imagine her minutes decreasing that drastically. Too early to tell, especially after the Covid break and with Azzi still out but I’m interested to see how that plays out.

Edwards looked a lot like her old self. She had much more aggressive takes and was doing some post moves I hadn’t seen from her since last year. Overall I thought she had a nice game.

EW/CW - Disappointing, not tons to say. CW had a few nice takes but will just never be the player we hoped for.

Dorka - After she got off to a hot start she quieted down, I’d love to see her bring the heat the whole game.

Ono - I thought was fine, made a few good passes, hit the outside shots she needed to.

Nika - Still getting back into the swing of it, love her energy.

Another terrible fourth quarter. Overall I’m okay with the way this game went given the injuries, lack of practice time, Covid break, etc. Hopefully they can all improve a little each game.

 

[msf22b]

I agree the seniors need to play better and while I’m still hoping they will, I’m pinning my hopes on the young ‘uns.

I've been saying that for a couple of months now.

 

[TeamFirst!]

It's probably just dumb luck but I thought Caroline would be our 2nd best player from day one. When she started getting shots off, even though she missed, it just confirmed it for me. She's the same player I saw in her high school videos. She's the total package and if we do have any chance to win it all she will be a key. She's a plus defender, plus rebounder, plus scorer and overall she doesn't make a lot of mistakes with the ball even though the refs keep calling that stupid traveling foot shuffle.

There are players who can make plays against top competition, players who can beat up secondary competition and contribute something in March and then reserve depth. We have 2 of the first type, 5 or 6 of the 2nd type and then the rest. Having 5-6 of the 2nd type is important and hopefully they have great careers as coaches and other endeavors later in life, but you really need some of that first grouping to win it all. I think we should be a top 4 team again when Paige gets back even if we don't get much from Azzi. If Azzi can defend, she certainly has the ability to be a player in that first grouping. We have yet to see her pull up jumper with any success yet and even if she can just space the floor and knock down a good percentage of 3 pointers she would help this team a lot. She may well end up our 3rd best player before the year is done.

Which is really good by the way. Evina, CW, Edwards and Dorka are all very solid players. Absolutely will be extremely important going forward.

Call me crazy but I think Dorka is our best draft pick this year. I'd pick her higher than any other draft eligible player on the team.